I got paid yesterday, barely a tenth of what we agreed, the rest, according to the contract, will be used to pay for my flight and my stay here.
According to Vivian’s calculation, that will take a year, which means that during that time there’s no escape Coelho 37.
At the first time, Maria does not feel any pressure at all. She tries to enjoy her new job. She knows that she has to adjust herself by accepting her current
condition. And what’s the point of escaping anyway? I’ve only just arrived. I haven’t
seen anything yet. What’s so awful about having to dance seven nights a week? I used to do that for pleasure, now I do it for money and fame; my
legs don’t ache, the only difficult things is maintaining that fixed smile Coelho 37.
However, there is always a limit of everything. Maria knows that she cannot stay in her current condition for the rest of her life. She decides to struggle
for her own right. She tries to escape by learning French in order to know the country better. Her self-esteem emerges because she wants to be respected by
Roger. Therefore, she goes to Roger’s office and speaks about law in a good French. Then, she gets five thousand dollars in result.
Maria might be young but she was no fool, especially once her Arab lover had told her that Swiss employment laws were very strict and,
since the nightclub kept back a large part of her salary, she could easily allege that she was being used for slave labor.
She went back to Roger’s office, this time speaking reasonable French, which now included the word ‘lawyer’. She left with few insults
and five thousand dollars in compensation-a sum of money beyond her wildest dream-and all because of that magic word ‘lawyer’ Coelho 44.
Her profession as a salsa dancer becomes one important step for other steps to follow. She wants a better job than a salsa dancer. She searches for it and
she does not want to give up. She tries to survive until the last day. She works to 43
fulfill her physiological needs. She learns how to deal with the problems and response in proper ways.
c. Becoming a Model
After having a difficult time as a salsa dancer, Maria wants to get another job in Switzerland. She tries to use her beauty to work as a model. She rents a
small room, buys a mobile phone and spends most of her money to make excellent photographs. She sends them to some agencies. Maria is not afraid of
taking risk, spending most of her money because she knows that her dream is not cheap. She has to sacrifice to achieve her target. She also sends some pictures to
her parents to show herself off but wonders about what she will be after becoming a model Coelho 46.
However, Maria is tired of waiting for a model agent to call her. Therefore, she becomes a regular visitor to the town library since she has nothing
to do and avoids buying expensive magazines. Then, there is an agent who offers her to take a part in a fashion show. Unfortunately, it is ended by an invitation to
have sex with him for one thousand francs Coelho 52. She gets shocked and doubtful but she realizes that she is running out of money. Therefore, she decides
to take the offer. Maria needs an adjustment. According to Braun, Linder and Asimov 480
one type of adjustment is problem solving. It is described in the novel that Maria has to deal with her difficulty in financial condition and tries to find the best
solution to overcome it, that is by giving her body to the man. Maria knows that 44
she has made the right decision in order to survive. Therefore, instead of becoming a model, Maria plans to try to be a prostitute for a short time since it is
very easy and one thousand francs is good money to work for one night. So that was how it worked. As easy as that. There she was in a strange city
where she knew no one, but what had been a torment to her yesterday, today gave her a tremendous sense of freedom, because she didn’t need to
explain herself to anyone Coelho 57.
From the explanation above, we can see that Maria cannot be a model. She changes her profession and becomes a prostitute since it gives better money. She
also realizes that being a model cannot fulfill her physiological needs.
d. Becoming a Prostitute
Maria realizes that she has to fulfill her physiological needs to survive in the country. Therefore, she has no choice but accepts the offer for having sex with an
Arabian for one thousand francs. According to Smith, motivation is categorized as an internal process that influences the direction, persistence and vigor of goal
directed behavior. Therefore, motivation usually influences someone’s behavior. It this described in the story that at that time, Maria realizes that she still needs
money for herself and her family in Brazil. Money becomes Maria’s biggest motivation. Considering deeply her previous experience with an Arab in the
restaurant 52, she decides that becoming a prostitute will be her professional job even though she knows that it will be difficult for her.
The place that she chooses to start is a club in Rue de Berne called Copacabana. She asks for a job to the owner, Milan 64. Firstly, Maria disagrees
when she is offered to work for three hundred and fifty francs for each client. Her 45
